Sekot
by darthauthor
Summary: After Shatterpoint, Mace Windu searches for a living planet in this Clone Wars alternative to Rogue Planet. Maybe i'll go back and finish it one day.
1. Chapter I: Vision

Disclaimer: Star Wars, Jedi, Coruscant, Mace Windu, and anything related is owned by Lucasfilm Ltd. Please not reprint this story without my consent. If you want to use it, email me: cloneyoda@hotmail.com, unless you give me a really good reason not to, i'll probably let you use it. Thanks, enjoy!  
  
Dramatis Personae  
  
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Mace Windu, Jedi Master (male human)  
  
Vergere Du'lua, Jedi Knight (female Fosh)  
  
Palpatine, Supreme Chancellor of the Republic Senate (male human)  
  
Yoda, Jedi Master (male, species unknown)  
  
Rai Dhurm, Personal Intelligance Aide to the Supreme Chancellor (male human)  
  
Gabe Yinn, Captain, Belkadan Civil Protection Patrol (male human)  
  
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Mace Windu was trapped. Trapped in a vortex of swirling red. All around him, he could feel it. But it didn't seem... real. This place was strange. Alien, even. Not because he couldn't see it with his eyes. Because he couldn't feel it in the Force. He couldn't feel the Force at all. This crimson sea seemed devoid of the Force altogether.   
  
Without warning, Mace felt the sensation. He knew what was about to happen. The world went black, and Mace saw crackling pictures. Visions. They only lasted for an instant.   
  
  
  
He saw Coruscant- not as the city it was, but as a jungle. Wild, untamed, and overrun. He had seen this vision before. Many times. The vision receded, and another one began.   
  
He thought he had seen this one before, too, a long time ago. He saw a boy. The boy had Anakin's face. He was older than Anakin, however, and looked wiser. The boy wielded Anakin's lightsaber. Mace watched as the boy's fingers wrapped around its hilt. The blue blade came to life with a crackle. Mace tried to reach out to the boy, he could feel the boy's power. But Mace could not touch him. Everything in this world seemed empty. Empty of the Force. Mace saw the boy become a man. He was strong and powerful. He saw the man become a legend. The entire galaxy knew his name. The vision faded.   
  
Another vision started. He vaguely remembered this one, too. He saw a mask. A mask of utter black. He heard breathing. The long, slow, breathing of someone who relies on a machine to keep them alive. He heard the hiss of a red blade as the man's lightsaber sprang up. He tried to reach out to the man's darkness, even that would be better than nothing... but the Force was still nowhere. The vision ended.   
  
Suddenly, as if someone had turned on a floodgate, the Force rushed out to embrace him. The Force spiraled around him. And another vision began. This one he had never seen before.   
  
Mace saw a planet. The planet was in the far outer reaches of the galaxy. The planet loved peace. It did not want violence. But the strangest thing was that this planet- was alive. The Force rippled through it like waves through an ocean. Mace reached out to it and felt its presence. Mace realized that the planet was trying to show him something. The planet showed him a war. As it did this, it sent a sort of shudder through the Force, as if a war was the last thing it could ever want. Mace wondered, was this war the same one he was fighting? He tried to ask the planet this. But the planet did not respond.   
  
Mace saw the planet run from the war. It did not want to take part in it. The planet hated war. The planet ran from system to system. But it could not escape violence. Finally the planet found a place where it would be safe, if only for a while, from the war. But the war came to it.   
  
An envoy from one of the war's factions visited the planet. The planet was apprehensive. It did not wish to take sides. But the envoy was persistent. It reached out through the Force to the planet. The planet was astonished. No one had contacted it through the Force for a long, long time. The planet decided to help the envoy. It followed the envoy. The envoy's faction won the war. The vision ended.   
  
Abruptly, Mace's connection to the planet was severed, and he felt himself rushing through darkness-  
  
Mace Windu woke with a start. For a fleeting moment, he thought he was still on his homeworld, Haruun Kal, his back on the rocky ground with akk dogs snarling as gunship engines whined overhead. He looked around. He was not in the jungle. He was in the Jedi Temple. He was on Coruscant. He was home.   
  
He slumped over, closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh. He had a headache and beads of cold sweat dripped down his face. He remembered the dream. But it was slowly fading... he could only pick out parts of it... a Force-sensitive planet in the midst of a war... an envoy sent to find it... the planet helped the envoy's side win... Mace's eyes snapped open.   
  
He would find this planet. He had to. It was the key. To everything. 


	2. Chapter II: Midnight Meeting

Mace silently made his way down the repulsorlifts to the first floor of the Jedi Temple. He walked into the Temple's garden, still pondering the meaning of his vision.   
  
"A little late for a stroll, isn't it Master Windu?" said a voice behind him. Mace smiled. "Yes, I... guess it is, Vergere." "Couldn't sleep?" she asked as he turned to face her. He nodded. "Yes, me neither." she said. "With the whole war and everything, it's all a little much." They began to walk along the path.   
  
"So", Vergere said, "why couldn't you sleep?" "What? Oh..." replied Mace, still lost in thought. "I was... having visions." Vergere raised a feathery eyebrow. "What sort of visions?"   
  
Mace was immediately snapped out of his trance. He turned and looked at her properly for the first time that night. Her face and beak were pure white, with the exception of her red eyes, typical of Fosh females. A long, hair-like crest of feathers grew from the top and back of her avian head. Her purplish hands and feet sported gray claws, and the rest of her was under her brown Jedi robe. But her unusual appearance was not the reason Mace held her in high regard. She had an uncanny ability to converse through the Force with a variety of exotic animals, plants, and organisms of all sorts.   
  
"Master Windu?" Vergere asked again, "What kind of visions were you having?". He sighed and told her what he could remember of his subconscious encounter with the planet.   
  
When he was done, her eyes were wide and glazed over. "A... a living planet?" she stammered. "A living planet that may help us win the war." Mace corrected. She said, "I- I've heard stories, but... never anything like this... do you think it's real?"   
  
"If it is," Mace said, "we must not let the Separatists have it." "Oh, of course, Master!" Vergere said. "It would be pivotal to the war! Did your dream indicate who reached the planet first?" she asked. "No. And that," Mace replied, "is what worries me." 


	3. Chapter III: Conference

Mace Windu walked into the Supreme Chancellor's office the next morning. Normally he would think of Palpatine's modern yet simple office as a cheerful place, but not now. The last time he had been in here, it had been filled with nineteen holographic corpses, each riddled with cuts from dull blades. He looked up and saw three people- Master Yoda, seated with his clawed hands folded on a hovering cushion, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, behind his polished desk, and another man he didn't expect to see there.   
  
Standing to the side of the Chancellor's desk was a man he recognized from the last time he was in here- the Republic Intelligence agent from the base on Haruun Kal. His looks were quite different, though, the agent had combed back his brown hair and now donned an official-looking uniform with the Republic Intelligence symbol adorning it in at least three places.   
  
Before Mace could ask, Palpatine said, "Mace, you've met Rai Dhurm." He looked at the agent, who had a smug grin on his face. "He is my new Personal Intelligence Aide." Mace raised an eyebrow. " 'Personal Intelligence Aide'? I've never heard of that position before." "Well," said Palpatine with a sigh, "that's probably because I haven't had one until now. It's not a necessary job, many Supreme Chancellors did not have one. Valorum had one, I believe, but fired him after a year or so because he found him unnecessary. Me, I just haven't gotten around to appointing one. But when Rai here" (he looked back at the agent) "came back from Haruun Kal, I decided to appoint him. He couldn't go back to Haruun Kal, his cover had been blown, and the Intelligence agency here wouldn't offer him a job, they think he's corrupt from working under Phloremirrla Tenk."   
  
Mace glanced over at Rai. "Can we get started?" he asked. "Of course! Rai, you're dismissed." said Palpatine. Rai bowed and walked down to where Mace was standing. "Nice seeing you again, buddy." Rai said to Mace, and patted him on the back. Mace simply nodded.   
  
When Rai had left the room, Palpatine said, "To business, then. Master Windu, I believe you wanted to tell us something." "Yes, yes, I did." said Mace. "I have been seeing in my sleep what can only be described as... visions." Yoda's eyes narrowed. "Visions? Visions of what sort?" "Well, Master Yoda," said Mace " they seem to be visions of... the future," at this Palpatine's eyes widened, "though I cannot be sure." "What did you see in these visions?" inquired the Supreme Chancellor. "I saw a planet, a living planet." said Mace. Yoda said, "Hmmm. A living planet. Of such things, I have heard rumors, but credible, none of these rumors were. Believe this planet is real, do you?" "It seemed real in the dream." said Mace. "The planet... spoke to me. Through the Force. It told me what I must do to win this war." Mace told them all he could remember of his subconcious chat with the planet.   
  
When he was finished, Yoda said, "Tell you its name, did this planet?" "No." Mace said. "It spoke only through the Force."   
  
Palpatine, who had been quiet for some time, now spoke. "I know the planet's name." Yoda and Mace both turned to look at him. "True, is this?" said Yoda. "Yes." said Palpatine. "What... is the planet's name?" asked Mace slowly. "The planet you speak of," said the Chancellor, "is known as Zonama Sekot." 


	4. Chapter IV: Search

Mace sat in a chair in front of an eerily glowing holoscreen, his eyes heavy from exhaustion. He had been searching through screens of data for hours. Still, nothing of interest had come up.   
  
He tried to recall what Palpatine had told him earlier that day. Mace remembered he had said, "Zonama Sekot is a planet of legend. I didn't think it really existed. According to the rumors, it is supposed to be alive. It is also said to have hyperdrive engines. It runs from trouble, and only wants peace. But wherever it goes, trouble seems to follow it..." An interesting thought entered Mace's head. A legend... perhaps he had been looking in the wrong place. Mace leaned back in his chair.   
  
"Can I be of any help, Master Windu?" said the librarian as she walked up to where Mace was sitting. He turned his head to look at her. "Yes, actually, I need all the data you have on legendary planets. In particular, one planet called Zonama Sekot." "Hmmm... legendary planets..." said the librarian, her swift eye searching through the glowing blue panels on the walls. "Ah, here we are!" she said, pulling out one of the panels to reveal a small, thin data disk. She slid it into the disk slot below the holoscreen. "That should be it!" The librarian smiled. "Thank you." Mace said, bowing.   
  
He turned his attention back to the screen. He typed "zonama sekot" into the keypad and instantly a match came up. He opened it up and began to read. At once his eyes widened. The file read:  
  
  
  
  
  
:: DATA LOG :: 717-89-GH6 :: Personal File of Ghras DeLohk ::  
  
( DAY 16): It had seemed all hope was lost yesterday. Than today, something miraculous happened. I was lost in the depths of space, my hyperdrive engine irreplaceably damaged. Suddenly, into my sensors drifted a strange planet. I could not believe what the readings said. This planet had life-form readings ten times larger than any planet I had visited before. In fact, it looked like the only things on the planet that were not alive were two massive, hollow cylinders jutting out from one side of the planet. It took me a minute to figure out what these were. When I had figured it out, I still didn't believe it. These objects were engines! The planet I had discovered was the living, moving system Zonama Sekot! I had heard rumors of its strange powers and mysterious living spaceships from other explorers, but never before had I seen it for myself. Knowing the planet's cautious tendencies, I inched closer. But the moment I entered its atmosphere, its engines fired and it rocketed off into hyperspace. I tried to get a lock on its destination, but because the planet had no navicomputer I could only say that it was headed somewhere in Sector 647-H. There are over a million systems in 647-H. I will probably never see the planet again. Anyway, right after the planet left, I received a signal- from a Republic vessel! It turns out I was near the core after all, floating close to Correlia! The next thing I will do is take an exceptionally hot shower.  
  
:: END TRANSMISSION ::  
  
  
  
  
  
Mace racked his brains. He recalled hearing of an explorer named DeLohk, and how he made up outlandish tall tales. But something told Mace that this account was no story.   
  
The explorer sure knew his space sectors. And he was right about a crucial point. There in fact are over a million systems in Sector 647-H. Most of these are backwater worlds where the air is not breathable or a small colony exists. But some of these small worlds are colonized. On a few, there are even towns, cities, or maybe even metropolises. One of these large worlds, perhaps the most populated, is a planet... called Belkadan. 


	5. Chapter V: Sighting

The tired BCPP officer yawned as he leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the console mounted into his durasteel desk. He was sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge of an old Vector-class Defense Cruiser. His nametag, which he only wore to show off his rank, had an inscription of the Belkadan Civil Protection Patrol insignia, as well as his name, Captain Gabe Yinn. He hadn't slept for twenty hours, and his dark green uniform, he noticed, was beginning to lose its gloss.   
  
Just as he was about to drift off into sleep, alarms rang out. Panicked voices started yelling below. "Proximity Alert! Proximity Alert! Proximity Alert" repeated a pleasant female voice over the blaring alarms.   
  
Captain Yinn sprang to his feet and punched the comlink button. "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?" he yelled. "Sir!" said an extremely worried voice from the sensor room. "We've got a lock on a ship! The readings show it only as "hostile"! I've never seen a ship like this before! It appears to be... well... organic, as well, sir! I'm getting another reading... maybe... HOLY SITH!"   
  
The Captain's heart was pounding furiously. "WHAT IS IT, LIEUTENANT?" "Uh... Sir..." the voice sounded nauseated. "the ship... it is made out of... um... well... the, uh... the materials... used to, uh, make the ship, sir... they don't match any known substances!" "On Belkadan?" said the Captain, his hope fading.   
  
"Ummm... actually.." said the voice. "they, uh... don't match any substances. Anywhere. In the entire galaxy." The captain's eyes widened until they looked like they were about to explode. He whipped around. "GET ME CORUSCANT! NOW!" barked Yinn to the Comm officers. He slammed the comlink button again. "ALL GUNNERS! OPEN FIRE ON HOSTILE SHIP! NOW!" he screamed.   
  
He switched on the comlink channel to only the sensor room. "What's going on now?" he said, his nerves frayed. "Sir," the voice replied, "our fire... is... not getting through!" "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN?" the Captain barked. "The ship seems to have a device... it works like a... a black hole, and it... it, uh seems to be... sucking in our bolts!"   
  
The Captain's eyes narrowed. He felt nausea rising in his gut. He opened the comlink channel to the entire ship. "Retreat the ship. Get ready to make the jump to hyperspace. I don't care where. Just go. And do it NOW!" "SIR!" said the voice from the sensor room. "What is it?" Yinn said. "Sir! The ship! It's... it's leaving! It just turned around, and I believe it's going to... yes! It's just jumped into hyperspace!" "Can you get a lock on its destination?"the Captain asked. "Not exactly..." the voice answered. "it has no navicomputer, and its organic signals are practically frying our computers. But I can tell you that it isn't going too far. It's staying inside the sector."   
  
The Captain slouched down in his chair and slowly exhaled. That was way more than enough excitement for one day. 


	6. Chapter VI: Invasion

The stars shone brightly in the background of space. All was still and peaceful above the planet Belkadan. Almost. Mace Windu sighed and continued to stare out of the transparisteel cockpit of his Jedi Starfighter. Except for his hyperspace docking ring floating behind him, no objects were in orbit on this side of the planet. Was it too quiet? Mace didn't think so. It could never be too quiet, except in holofilms.   
  
"General Windu, shall we move in?" said Jango Fett's voice in the comlink. It almost hurt just to hear that voice, even if it was only from a clone trooper. "Go ahead, Commander." Mace sent back.   
  
In less than twenty seconds, he was no longer alone but surrounded by fifteen other Jedi Starfighters and two Republic assault cruisers. "Hail, General Windu!" said a crackling, static-filled voice from the surface. "Your fleet may proceed to Olkan City! We have opened landing bays E2-A through E2-K!"   
  
Mace's ship flew down, and for the first time, Mace could see the billions of trees that coated the surface. Mace knew a lot about the planet. It had only two areas of habitation: a small security outpost, where the Belkadan Civil Protection Patrol was stationed, and only a few standard kilometers away was the only city, Olkan.   
  
But what a city it was! It was like Coruscant, but on a backwater world, complete with three levels- the bottom, on the forest floor, was home to dirty slums and dimly lit bars, where prostitutes danced on streetcorners and you could buy almost anything- as long as it was illegal. It was a favorite getaway for gamblers and fugitives alike. The middle level, where the trees met the sky, is where the middle and upper class of the city lived. There were numerous biosphere housing projects- you could live in a simulation of a desert, water, or even icy planet. On the upper level, however, no one lived. Its thousands of towering skyscrapers rose above the treetops and dominated the landscape. These were mostly commercial buildings or government offices.   
  
Mace stared in awe at their immense height as he sped past toward the landing pads. A short time later, Mace had landed his nimble craft and climbed out of the cockpit. Two security guards from Olkan had walked out to meet him.   
  
"Greetings, General Windu!" they said, raising their hands in salute. "We are instructed to escort you to the offices of the president. There you will speak with the BCPP captain who was aboard when the..." The guard seemed to be searching for a word to describe it. "...incident- occurred. We are afraid we must relieve you of all weaponry, including your lightsaber-" "There is no need to take my lightsaber." Mace said calmly, raising his hand slightly. "On second thought," the guard said, "there is no need to take your lightsaber." Mace smiled. "Follow me, now." said the security guard as he began walking back.   
  
When they finally reached the president's inner office, Mace was thoroughly exhausted. They had walked what seemed to Mace as about five miles and had gone up (or down) at least ten different repulsorlifts.   
  
The office door opened and Mace saw a smiling Ishi Tib wearing a flowing yellow robe seated next to a worried-looking man in a BCPP captain's uniform. "Hello, Master Windu!" said the Ishi Tib cheerfully. "I am President Volutry, but you can call me Tuni! Please, take a seat!" 'President Volutry is fine with me', thought Mace as he sat down.   
  
"This," Volutry said, motioning to the captain, who now seemed downright petrified, "is Captain Gabe Yinn of the Belkadan Civil Protection Patrol!" "Um... h-hello, M-Master Windu!" the captain said in a tiny voice. Mace could sense his discomfort. "Captain Yinn, this is extremely important. You must tell me everything you remember," Mace said, accompanied by a small push of Force-encouragement.   
  
Immediately the man began eagerly telling of his encounter with the strange ship. When he was finished, Mace leaned back, looking thoughtful but inwardly disturbed. Could this organic ship be like the ones the explorer mentioned in his journal? No, he said its materials were not of this galaxy... perhaps it was created by some... far outsiders.   
  
Mace started, "President, can I-" BOOM! Mace was cut off by a massive explosion echoing from a nearby building. He immediately whipped his head around to look out the window and saw what could only be a Trade Federation lander, closing in on the planet. 


	7. Chapter VII: Freefall

Mace's legs burned as his feet pounded the durasteel floor. All around him, people were screaming, papers, some confidential, were flying, and chaos reigned. Through the windows, Mace spotted hundreds of Trade Federation war freighters, landers, and droid fighters. He ran through a sliding transparisteel door only to find himself on a empty landing platform. Sithspit! he cursed in his mind.   
  
In that instant, his ears caught the faint hum of what could unmistakably be the atmospheric engines of two Trade Federation droid starfighters, closing in from both sides of him.   
  
In the same instant that they simultaneously fired blaster bolts at him, he allowed himself to immerse in Vaapad, drew his violet lightsaber, and in one swift motion, deflected both shots back at the fighters, missing one completely, but connecting with the other directly on the fragile and hastily forged durasteel armor that protected its droid brain, causing a chain reaction inside the ship.   
  
The impact of the blast caused the starfighter's remaining chunks of durasteel, the largest being the wings, to fly off in random directions. One of the wings flew straight at the other droid fighter, causing it to veer off course and make contact with the side of the government building. The other wing collided with base of the platform Mace was on, causing a massive crack to form less than a foot away from the transparisteel door.   
  
The platform's crack weakened the structural hold of the building on the platform, and the platform began to fall. In one hundredth of a second, Mace calculated in his mind that by the time he could execute a Force-assisted leap onto what remained of the platform, he would already be too far down to reach it. So, he too let himself fall. Considering the height of the platform Mace was on relative to the trees below, and the effects of gravity on this system, Mace calculated that he would have about twenty seconds before his body was sliced to shreds by the branches of the canopy below.   
  
'Twenty seconds to form a plan', Mace thought. 'I've faced worse'. Unfortunately, that thought cost Mace some time, narrowing his odds to only eighteen seconds.   
  
Suddenly he caught a glimpse of a speeder- a manned speeder. Mace quickly made calculations in his head. He could make it. If the speeder didn't turn. If Mace could jump in time. If he hit nothing on the way down. But it was the only way.   
  
Mace gathered the Force inside him, crouching his legs, and jumped outward from the platform. His hands reached out for the speeder- he caught it. He breathed a long sigh of relief as the bewildered pilot shouted a long string of curses in his confusion.   
  
Mace climbed up onto the top of the speeder and turned his head, barely catching a glimpse of the doomed platform crashing into the green canopy, causing thousands of frightened birds to quickly fly out of harm's way.   
  
After explaining the pilot his situation, with a little persuasion from the Force, Mace was dropped off at the landing pad where his Jedi Starfighter awaited.   
  
"R4!" Mace shouted as he ran toward the ship. "Fire up the main engines! And hurry!" As the transparisteel cockpit cover closed around him, Mace looked toward proud Olkan City, now reduced to a mess of charred and flaming buildings.   
  
As he entered the planet's orbit, he met nine other Jedi and one Republic cruiser. "Commander!" Mace yelled over the comlink static. "Commander, status report!" The obedient clone trooper answered immediately. "General Windu, we have lost five Jedi Starfighters and a Republic assault cruiser. We attempted to engage the enemy on the planet. We lost a cruiser within minutes, and were forced to withdraw. We did manage to inflict heavy damage on the enemy, taking down three war freighters, six landers, and dozens of droid starfighters. I have contacted Coruscant as well as Republic-occupied planets in the area with a call for reinforcements. They should arrive momentarily, sir."   
  
'Hmmm...' thought Mace. 'Good.'   
  
Almost as if someone was reading him mind, just as he thought this, a blaring alarm went off from Mace's sensor display. He looked at the readings. Three hostile capital ships were emerging from hyperspace, and they began launching fighters at once.   
  
Mace sighed. It looked like the Republic wasn't the only side getting reinforcements. He gritted his teeth and kicked his sublight thrusters into full throttle. 


	8. Chapter VIII: Outgunned

Mace cursed as he swung his ship around to meet the new threat. His feeble forces were no match for the new enemy fleet that had just arrived.   
  
"All fighters!" he sent over comlink to the remaining confused Jedi pilots. "Execute attack formation Gamma!" At once the eleven Jedi fighters converged in a U-shaped attack pattern, with Mace holding off the rear.   
  
Mace noticed that the three Techno Union capital ships had launched all of their fighters. There were approximately three hundred. Mace sent another message to the Jedi. "Enemy flight at forty-three degrees angular! Attack maneuver x-over!" The squadron of Jedi starfighters split off into two groups, mirroring each other's actions. The fighters in the middle fell back for support, the ones in front sped ahead and attacked from the side, and the ones in back shot forward, engaging the squad of droid fighters at near point-blank range. In less than ten seconds, the flight of twenty droid starfighters had been reduced to charred scrap metal.   
  
However, the Republic fighters were greatly outnumbered and soon the orderly attack dissolved into chaos. Dozens of droid fighters swarmed around them, guns blazing. The battle might have continued in this manner indefinitely if not for the arrival of yet another fleet.   
  
"Sir!" the clone commander commed in from the Republic cruiser. "We have picked up ten capital ships entering the sector, deploying fighters! They carry the markings of Republic battle cruisers!" Mace looked at his ship's computer and saw the commander was right. He hailed the cruiser in the lead and opened a comlink channel to it.   
  
"Republic vessel, this is General Mace Windu of the Army of the Republic. Requesting immediate assistance. We are outnumbered and the Separatists are taking the planet. Repeat, requesting immediate assistance!" Within seconds, the cruiser responded. "General Windu," said a voice as hard-edged as cold durasteel. "This is Commander Tarkin of the Republic assault cruiser Second Justice."   
  
Mace recalled meeting Tarkin once at a conference of commanders. His strict and orderly style mirrored that of the Republic itself. Tarkin continued, " I have under my command nine additional cruisers and one hundred and fifty Jedi starfighters. I am dispatching three cruisers and fifty fighters to help you fend off the enemy fleet you are engaging. The rest I will take down to engage the invading forces. I am under orders from General Yoda himself, Sir," he added, in case Mace didn't like the idea.   
  
Mace let out a sigh of frustration. He would have liked more, but it would do. "Very well, Commander Tarkin." Mace sent back. "After I am finished with this fleet, I will join you on the surface to tr-" But he never finished the sentence.   
  
Three droid starfighters had come from out of nowhere, and before he could react, their weapons had left a massive fissure in the front of his wedge-shaped fighter. His engines failed, and the power in the cockpit died instantly. He found himself plummeting toward the planet below. 'Not again!' Mace thought.   
  
He attempted to start the emergency thrusters, but the power was not about to come back on. By now he had reached the atmosphere and could see the forest below. He observed that he was only about half a standard kilometer away from the edge of the city.   
  
Seeing as he was once more immersed in breathable air, he whipped out his lightsaber and carved a large hole in the transparisteel cockpit cover. Since the fighter was falling in a nose-dive, Mace climbed onto the now-horizontal computer console. Mace looked out and could see individual branches. If he had to jump, he had to do it soon.   
  
He gathered the Force inside him, took a deep breath, and just as the tip of the wedge that was his crippled starfighter hit the first branch of the canopy, Mace... jumped. 


	9. Chapter IX: Encounter

Mace Windu leapt from the flaming wreckage of his starfighter. As he soared through the air, he looked down. He thought that if he fell, he would either snap his spine on the hard forest floor, break all his limbs and starve to death, smash in his skull, or be ripped apart by branches on the way down. Mace had looked many forms of death in the eye before and walked away unscathed. Compared to any one of these forms of death, to die here seemed downright merciful. Mace tried to stop thinking negatively. He had done that a lot since his mission to Haruun Kal.   
  
Instead he looked ahead at the rough tree trunk and concentrated on grabbing it when the time was right. Mace put his arms forward. He grabbed the trunk and held on.   
  
Just then, Mace heard a boom and looked down to see his Jedi starfighter, as well as his R4 droid, go up in a ball of orange flame. The massive explosion rocked the tree and sent a blast of heat up to greet him in the face.   
  
When his visage had cooled, he looked at the ground and guessed that he was about two hundred standard feet up from the forest floor. 'Sithspawn.' Mace thought. 'How am I supposed to get down from this thing?' Without warning, his question was answered as the branch he had a foothold on suddenly snapped, sending him sliding down the trunk of the tree to the forest floor below.   
  
When his feet landed with a thump on the soft leaves of the forest floor, his arms were bruised from encountering hundreds of small branches on the way down. He fell onto his knees, gritted his teeth, and rubbed his injured arms.   
  
When he finally stood, the pain in his arms was throbbing. Mace looked around at his surroundings. He was in the middle of the forest, with dense bushes all around him. He could see, off to his left, smoke and could hear explosions. He headed off toward the chaos.   
  
Soon, the noise had intensified and Mace could hear screams, too. But as he listened, he heard another sound- a low humming. It was coming from the direction of the city.   
  
As Mace crept closer, it became louder- much louder. Suddenly, a clump of trees was mown down in front of Mace and a massive Commerce Guild spider droid stepped out in front of him. His eyes widened and a frown crossed his face. Not that frowning wasn't something he did every day.   
  
As the metallic behemoth fired its dish-shaped laser cannon, Mace Force-leaped up and landed on its spherical 'head'. He pulled out his lightsaber and with a snap-hiss the violet blade awoke. He drove the saber deep into the droid brain of the durasteel arachnid. Mace leaped off the metal sphere just before sparks started flying from it and it imploded upon itself in a flash of white light. When Mace looked up from the tree root he had hid behind, the only remains of the droid were a few large pieces of smoldering shrapnel.   
  
'A job well done.' he thought to himself as he once again headed off toward Belkadan's sole city. 


End file.
